A Rizzoli Family Thanksgiving
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: Maura is planning to spend the Thanksgiving Day alone, but Jane has other ideas. So what happens when you get all 5 Rizzoli's and Maura together for dinner? Answer: A whole heck of a lot.  Jane/Maura Friendship and Rizzoli family drama/humor. Enjoy.


_**Happy Thanksgiving. This is my Thanksgiving fic for this year. It is my thirteenth Holiday fic, but only my second Rizzoli and Isles fic so be nice to it. Anyway hope you enjoy it and have a good day.**_

_**Spoilers: The Beast in Me.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane, Maura, Frankie jr., Tommy, Angela, or Frank sr.**_

"Hey Maura," Jane called walking into autopsy, "Whatcha doing tomorrow?"

Maura looked up from her desk where she was just finishing with a report. "Um," she thought for a moment, "probably paperwork and takeout."

"No you're not," Jane informed her fried walking over and sitting on the edge of Maura's desk.

"Yes," Maura replied, "I am."

"On Thanksgiving?" Jane asked tilting her head a little to one side, "Really Maura."

"Yes," Maura replied looking up at Jane, "On Thanksgiving."

"But Thanksgiving is about family and food," Jane told her, emphasizing the words family and food to make sure Maura noticed them.

"Yes," Maura said shaking her hair back before returning her attention to the report on her desk, "I am aware of that, but as my family is either dead, unknown to me, or a cold blooded killer I don't think there will be much of a get together."

Jane winced internally. She had forgotten that, while her own family was pictured next to the word crazy in the dictionary, Maura's family was even more complicated. She wondered what it said about her that she had forgotten that her best friend's father was a famous Irish mob boss. Of course they had only known that for a few months.

"Well, then," Jane told her friend, "You'll have to spend Thanksgiving with us."

Maura looked up surprised. "Oh no," she replied, "I don't want to impose."

"You're not imposing," Jane dismissed her friend's objection with a wave of her hand, "I could use another girl in the house anyway. Dad, Frankie jr., and Tommy always sack out in front of the TV to watch football."

"Tommy's going to be there?" Maura asked in surprise. She had never actually met the other Rizzoli child. He had been out of the state of in jail for as long as she had known Jane.

"So mom believes," Jane replied a little bitterly, "If he lets her down again I will kill him."

"You don't think he's coming do you?" Maura asked watching her friend's face.

"No," Jane answered flatly, "But I pray to God he proves me wrong."

"So what do you do on Thanksgiving?" Maura asked sensing that it was best to change the subject.

"I," Jane explained, her tone only slightly less scathing, "get to help mom prepare all the food. And this year so will you."

"Jane," Maura started to protest, but Jane was already half way back across the room.

"No, buts," Jane replied, "You're coming. I will pick you up at eight tomorrow morning."

"Jane," Maura started again, but the detective had covered her ears and walked out of the room. Maura shook her head and sighed. Tomorrow would be interesting. Not that she minded. She really rather liked Jane's family, and after all it was just dinner. How out of control could things get?

-0- -0- -0-

"Coming," Maura called in response to the banging on her front door, "Coming." She hurried down the hall and found Jane standing outside her front door. The two women looked at each other for a long moment. Then they both spoke at once.

"You're wearing that?" they asked each other incredulously.

"Sure," Jane replied with a shrug looking down at her clothing. She was wearing an old pair of jeans, which had several small rips in the legs, and a bulky sweater, the color of a lemon with a turkey emblazoned on it. "What's wrong with it?"

Maura tilted her head to one side studying her friend. "Yellow is not your color," she decided finally walking around to the passenger side of the car.

"Yellow is not your color," Jane mutter under her breath as she too got into the car, "You do understand that this isn't a photo shoot?"

"Of course," Maura replied, "But I wasn't sure if this was fancy or dress down so I went somewhere in the middle."

Jane surveyed her friend's outfit. Maura was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and a long flowing silk top covered in images of small falling leaves. "That's is somewhere in the middle?" Jane asked a little skeptically.

"Yes," Maura said, and Jane shook her head. For a while they road in silence, then Maura spoke again. "Your mother does know I'm coming right?"

"Um," Jane shifted a little uneasily and determinately stared at the road in front of her, "She will."

"Jane," Maura said exasperatedly, "I can't just walk in there uninvited."

"Look," Jane told her, "I invited you, and anyway my mother loves you."

"Really?" Maura asked rather pleased with the prospect.

"Oh yeah," Jane replied, "You should hear her sometime. Now why can't you dress more like Maura?" Jane mimicked her mother's thick Boston accent, "Maura would never consider doing that. You're her idea of a perfect young lady," Jane explained dropping back into her normal voice, "You're well dressed, well spoken, and you didn't go into detective work."

"She sees the Medical Examiner's office as a step up the ladder?" Maura asked.

"Apparently," Jane replied with a shake of her head, and they both laughed.

Moments later they pulled up outside the Rizzoli's apartment, and Jane parked the car. They were both making their way up the stair before Jane noticed that Maura was carrying a brown paper bag.

"What's that?" she asked curiously pointing to the bag, "You didn't have to bring anything."

"It's just a little something," Maura said pulling out a bottle of wine to show Jane, who whistled.

"My mother is going to think you walk on water," she said with a shake of her head. Maura just smiled at that, and together the two made their way up to the Rizzoli apartment.

Jane raised her fist to knock on the door, but a yell from the other side made her pause. The two women exchanged a look, listening the screaming. "Out, out," a female voice, that could only belong to Angela Rizzoli, yelled from the other side of the door, "Get out of my kitchen or so help me I will cut off all your fingers."

"And now," Jane murmured under her breath, "You know why I always leave my gun at home when I come to visit." Maura chuckled, but thought Jane probably had a point. "Let's just go in," Jane said sliding a key into the lock and turning it. Slowly she pushed the door open, the way she did if they were entering a building rigged with explosives and trip wires. Granted this one probably was too, they just were not visible ones.

"Hey mom," Jane called leaning her head around the door while signaling Maura to stay back.

"Janie," Angela called from the kitchen, "It's about time."

"Can Maura come to dinner?" Jane asked only pretending to ask permission because Maura was coming either way. "She can cook," Jane added knowing that would erase any hesitation Angela had.

"We'd be glad to have Maura," Angela replied immediately, and Jane had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Opening the door fully she allowed Maura to enter the room before doing so herself. The door had barely swung closed behind her when Angela appeared in the living room. "Pleasure to see you Maura," she said with a brief smile before turning to her daughter, "Do you have the stuffing?"

"No," Jane replied with no hint of an apology in her tone.

"Jane," Angela said disappointedly, "I asked you to get one thing, and you didn't do it?"

"I was busy," Jane told her a little defensively.

"With what?" Angela asked annoyed.

"My job," Jane replied equally annoyed, "We were kind of in the middle of a double homicide."

"Actually," Maura chimed in, "It was a homicide-suicide." Jane shot Maura a look.

"That seems pretty open and shut to me," Angela said haughtily.

"This isn't one of your cop shows, ma," Jane told her mother exasperatedly, "It takes time and effort to solve a case. There is a process."

"Is something burning?" Maura asked suddenly looking towards that kitchen. Angela, who was about to say something, turned and quickly returned to the kitchen to check on everything.

"Thank you," Jane muttered to her friend, "But I thought you didn't lie."

"That wasn't lying," Maura replied serenely, "I simply asked a question."

Jane smirked slightly. "We better go help her before she comes back and finds something else to go on about," she told Maura.

"What about the stuffing?" Maura asked as they walked towards the kitchen.

Jane snorted and waved her hand. "She has some. I guarantee you she as some," Jane explained, "She does this every year. She will tell me to get something knowing perfectly well that I will either forget or not have time. Then she yells at me for a while before pulling it out."

"Why?" Maura asked.

Jane shook her head. "No clue. If you figure it out please tell me." Laughing, the two women made their way into the kitchen.

-0- -0- -0-

"Tommy should have been here two hours ago," Angela exclaimed looking down at her watch for what was easily the twelfth time.

"Because Tommy is always so punctual," Jane muttered under her breath. Unfortunately Angela heard her.

"Don't talk about your brother that way," she snapped, "we're lucky to have him with us this year."

Jane bit her tongue to keep from pointing out that they were only lucky to have Tommy with them because it was a miracle he was not back in jail yet. Somehow she did not think her mother would respond well to that. Angela had always been very protective of her sons, which was the only reason Jane wanted her other brother to show up. It was not that she did not love him, because she did. He could be a really nice guy when he was sober, but he was selfish jerk when he was drunk, and Jane never knew which version was showing up.

"Last time he came for Thanksgiving," Jane explained to Maura in quietly once Angela had left the room, "he got so drunk that he passed out on the table."

"I thought that was Christmas," Frankie jr. pointed out from his place on the couch.

"It was probably both," Jane muttered. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and everyone turned to look at it. Jane and Maura exchanged a look as Angela came running into the room.

"Tommy," she exclaimed happily throwing her arms around the man on the other side of the door. There was a very pregnant pause as while Angela leaned back enough to realize that she was not hugging her son. She was hugging the elderly man from the apartment up the hall. Her cheeks turned very red. "Mr. Donahue," she said politely smoothing her hair down, "What can I do for you?"

"Cup of sugar?" he asked slowly holding up a plastic measuring cup.

"Of course," Angela replied kindly, "Just a moment please." She took the measuring cup and returned moments later with it full of sugar. "There you go sir. Have a very nice Thanksgiving."

"You too," he chortled walking away. Angela waited until he was safely back inside his apartment before closing the door and turning on her family.

"That was not funny," she yelled at them. Her words had absolutely no affect whatsoever. Frank sr. was keeping a straight face, but it was clearly a struggle that he was slowly losing. Meanwhile, Jane, Maura, and Frankie jr. were all doubled over in hysterics. Fuming Angela walked into the kitchen check on the turkey just as the doorbell rang again.

Jane, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes, walked to the door and opened it. She, Frankie jr., and Maura were all studiously not looking each other because if their eyes met they would lose it again. "Tommy," Jane said shocked looking at the person standing in the doorway.

"Hey sis," replied a male voice Maura did not recognize, "Did I hear Ma's lovely voice?"

"I do believe you did," Jane smirked as her brother drew her into a one armed hug, ruffling her hair with his free hand. Jane swatted his hand away from her hair.

"Hey Dad, hey Junior," Tommy said waving to his father and brother, who grimaced at the use of the nickname he had always hated. "And hello highly attractive woman I do not know," he said with a winning smile turning to Maura.

"Hello," Maura said politely, "I'm Maura Isles."

"Well hello Maura Isles," Tommy smiled at her again, and Jane smacked him on the back of the head.

"Maura is my friend," Jane told him quietly.

"Okay," Tommy said holding his hands up to shoulder height, "Sorry sis."

Jane and Tommy had come to an agreement years before. Jane would not rat Tommy out for his many girlfriends and continuous flirting in the school year if he did not flirt with Jane's friends. This deal had worked for many years, and for some reason, was one of the only promises Tommy had ever kept.

"Dinner's ready," Angela called from the dining room, "Do you think I should set a place for Tommy?'

Everyone in the living room exchanged glances. Finally, Tommy shrugged and answered, "don't worry about it," he told his mother, "I can just steal Janie's." He threw a teasing glance at his sister.

"Tommy," Angela exclaimed reappearing in the living room, "We were beginning to think you were abandoning us." Jane resisted the urge to add the word 'again' to the end of her mother's sentence.

"Would I do that?" Tommy asked lightly. His comment was followed by a very uncomfortable silence because everyone in the room, with the possible exception of Maura, knew the answer to that question was yes. "Right…" Tommy said apparently realizing his mistake, "Shall we go eat?" Silently everyone filed into the kitchen and took their places around the table.

"This looks wonderful, Mrs. Rizzoli," Maura told her hostess in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Thank you Maura dear," Angela said.

"So Maura," Tommy said conversationally, "I know you work with my adorable little siblings," both of whom grimaced at that classification, "But what exactly do you do. I would assume it is a little less hands on, and more," he shot another look at his sister, "lady-like,"

This was too much for Jane who burst out laughing. Frankie jr. and Maura caught each other's eyes, and then both quickly looked down that their laps. "What?" Tommy asked clearly not getting the joke.

"She," Jane choked out through her laughter, "is the medical examiner."

Tommy looked surprised for a moment. "Well that is," he considered for a moment, "Interesting." At this point Frankie jr. and Maura both burst into laughter as well, and Jane accidentally knocked over her glass of wine, which wasted no time in dyeing a part of the table cloth red.

"Jane," Angela said disappointedly, "You ruined the table cloth."

"Sorry, Ma," Jane managed to choke out before dissolving into hysterics again. Maura and Frankie jr. exchanged a look, while Tommy shifted some of the things from the table to sideboard so he could mop up the wine.

"Okay," Angela said taking a deep breath to steady herself and looking away from the red spot on the table, "Let's all calm down and have a nice normal dinner."

"Ma," Jane said gently as if she were trying to make a bitter truth sting less, "We are the Rizzoli's. We are physically incapable of having a nice normal dinner." Frankie jr., Tommy, and Maura all looked at their hands. They had been thinking the same thing, but had not dared to say it.

"Sure we can," Angela said stubbornly.

At that particular moment an alarm started to wail and the sprinklers turned on. Tommy had set the candle right under the fire detector when he was moving things off the table. Water sprayed the table and everyone looked around at the others.

"No Ma," Frankie said finally, "I don't believe we can." There was a pause and then every one began to laugh hysterically. For several minutes the only sound was that of laughter as tears of laughter mixed with the water from the sprinkler system.

Then the phone rang. Maura reached over and answered it. She then spent several minutes assuring the building superintendent that nothing was wrong and he could turn off the sprinklers. By the time she hung up the others were mostly coherent again, and seconds later the sprinklers switched off.

"What do we do now?" Frank sr. asked looking at the soaking food on the table.

"Well," Angela said after a moment of thought, "The pie is still in the plastic container in the kitchen and the turkey is probably salvageable," she paused, "once it dries off a little."

"And the wine is still good," Maura pointed out.

"Great," Jane said clapping her hands together, "What more do you need?"

"Sides would be nice," Tommy said.

"A turkey should be able to feed six people," Maura pointed out.

"Not if three of those people are my brothers and father," Jane replied throwing a look at Tommy.

"So where can we get sides on Thanksgiving Day?" Angela asked, "everything's closed."

"The Chinese restaurant three blocks away isn't," Maura joked with Jane.

"Brilliant," Tommy said leaping to his feet, "I'll get the menu." Frankie jr., Frank sr., and Angela all followed him into the kitchen, and Maura turned to Jane.

"I was kidding," she told her friend.

"I know that," Jane replied, "but they clearly don't."

-0- -0- -0-

Half an hour later, the group was once again seated around the Rizzoli's dinning room table, and Angela was passing around several tubs of Chinese food. Maura reached over and grabbed two spring rolls as the dish went by. She kept one for herself and handed the other to Jane.

"So I'm still eating takeout for dinner," Maura pointed out taking a bite of her spring roll.

"There isn't any paperwork though," Jane reminded her.

"Someone is going to have to do paperwork for this apartment," Maura countered.

Jane groaned. She had a pretty good idea who that was going to be. "Still," she added, "You can't beat the company."

"No," Maura said with a smile and a shake of her head, "No I can't."

**_So did you like it? Please review and tell me. I don't do humor very much so I don't know how well it worked. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving._**


End file.
